Public comes through for Grand Haven boardwalk renovation

Chronicle/Cory MorsePeople walk upriver on the boardwalk after watching the USCGC Mackinaw and USCGC Bristol Bay come into port for the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival's Parade of Ships. It's the 25th anniversary of the building of the boardwalk, and the community has undertaken a fundraiser for its restoration.

GRAND HAVEN -- Organizers of a fundraising drive to restore the Grand Haven boardwalk say they are excited to get work started on the local icon as it celebrates 25 years of greeting locals and visitors.

Over the years, the boardwalk has become tattered from harsh winters and hundreds of thousands of pedestrians who use it for walks, rides, runs and other recreation along the Grand River channel.

TO DONATE

Donations can be sent to the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation, 1 S. Harbor, Grand Haven. Checks are to be made out to the community foundation. Donations are tax deductible.

In May, retired Grand Haven teacher Ken Formsma kicked off a fundraiser to help make restoration efforts a reality. The goal: raise $150,000 in private donations for aesthetic improvements. Formsma also led fundraising 25 years ago to build the boardwalk.

An announcement on the campaign's final figures will be made Aug. 15 at Escanaba Park on the boardwalk -- part of the city's 175th anniversary celebrations.

Despite the economy, Formsma said the campaign has exceeded the goal. "It's turned out better than we ever could have imagined," he said.

The project will focus on 1,156 feet of the boardwalk that stretches roughly from the Pier Peddler ice cream shop to the edge of Grand Haven State Park.

Chronicle/Cory MorseRetired Grand Haven teacher Ken Formsma spearheaded a fundraiser that has exceeded its $150,000 goal. Formsma also led fundraising 25 years ago to build the boardwalk.

Three benches have been removed and will be replaced with nine 6-foot cast-iron benches on the south side of the boardwalk. The red benches will not be in the middle of the boardwalk, which will open up walking lanes.

The curbed islands that dip down with large decorative rocks will be filled in with new pavers -- a change also aimed at making more room for people who use the boardwalk for recreation.

"When the boardwalk was originally designed, we never thought it would get this much usage," Formsma said. "It will be much more functional and useful."

Mayor Roger Bergman agreed.

"I don't believe the original designers ever imagined the impact the boardwalk would have not only on the city, but all of western Michigan," Bergman said. "It is used far more than they ever anticipated."

Meanwhile, starting Tuesday, the federal government will install 70 steel supports on the boardwalk's underbelly. Over the years, the boardwalk has settled in certain spots and the $70,000 federally funded project will correct that, said Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Tom O'Brien. The project will take less than a month.

The aesthetic improvements, which will be paid for through private donations, will start and be completed in September, Formsma said.

Chronicle/Cory MorseJoel Wildrom, from left, walks with his grandsons, Kai, 5, and Cameron Spicer, 9, along the Grand Haven boardwalk. Wildrom lives in Portland, Mich., but owns a condo in Spring Lake. Kai and Cameron live in East Lansing. "I walk it everyday (while staying at the condo)," Wildrom said.

Formsma said fundraising efforts continue, but they are going so well that an endowment with "lots of money will make sure there will never be an issue with maintenance on the boardwalk."

"The community has really stepped up to the plate in the fundraising," Bergman said. "Ken has worked hard and has had a lot of people help him."